This invention relates to milling cutters, and particularly to a system for delivering cutting fluid from a pressurized source in a machine spindle to the multiple cutting edges of a rotary milling cutter such as, but not necessarily limited to, a face mill.
In the past, it has been common to carry cutting fluid to the multiple cutting sites of the rotary tool through conduits drilled in the body of the cutter. Apart from difficulty of manufacture, such systems are subject to clogging of the drilled passages as well as to differential distribution of the cutting fluid if the conduits are not carefully designed and made, and maintained.
These problems are addressed in the cutter of the invention by incorporating the cutting fluid distribution system into the design of the cutter in a way such that it is formed merely by the assembly of the constituent elements of the cutter body and is completely opened for inspection and maintenance as an incident to the disassembly of the cutter body.
In the cutter of the invention, the distribution paths which carry the cutting fluid to the multiple cutting sites of the tool are formed by the central bore of the cutter head, the central pilot boss of the adapter received in the inner end of the cutter head bore, and a cap received in the outer end of that bore and spaced from the flat cutting face to permit the radial escape of the cutting fluid across the face of the cutter head to grooves in the peripheral rim of the cutter head leading to the rake face of each cutting bit of the cutter.